Spotlight on packaged meat and poultry
The grocery meat department sure isnt what it used to be. And thats actually a good thing. In addition to traditional butcher shop offerings, consumers now can find a wide array of packaged meat and poultry items ranging from case-ready beef roasts and pork chops to sophisticated value-added meat entrées and flavorful organic lunchmeats. The extent of store brand development here, however, varies greatly from retailer to retailer, as does the merchandising to support that development.
To get an idea of what a few retailers are doing in the store brand packaged meat space, we toured three supermarkets in New Jersey: a Wegmans store in Woodbridge, an A&P Fresh store in Woodcliff Lake and a Stop & Shop store in Emerson.
Wegmans
General observations: The store itself is significantly larger than a traditional supermarket, with an abundance of prepared foods areas. Most of the stores packaged meats are located against the back wall on the right-hand side of the store (looking into the store from the front entrance) and in a three-sided refrigerated case display centered in an aisle between the butcher shop area and the service deli. A doored freezer case against the wall to the left of the section holds additional value-added meat and poultry, while the packaged lunchmeats and hot dogs are located to the left of that area, past some organic milk items.
Most of the sizable packaged meat area was neat and well-stocked. Most of the packaged meat products, even variable-weight meat and poultry products, sported the Wegmans, Wegmans Italian Classics or Wegmans Food You Feel Good About brand name on the label. Our visit took place on a Tuesday morning in early February. Shopper traffic was fairly heavy in the store.
The upside:
- The store situated a metal display rack holding assorted Wegmans finishing butters above selected Wegmans Club Pack beef items.
- The store placed a very large billboard-like sign above a portion of the meat case touting the benefits (less fat, naturally smoked, multiple varieties) of Wegmans bacon offerings. The sign also boasts a large photo of plated bacon and eggs.
- Near Wegmans Sage pork sausage and Wegmans Hot pork sausage products, the store displayed a sign that described the products in detail and identified them as new items. The sign also included a photo of herb stuffing with sausage, noting that the recipe could be found in Wegmans own Menu magazine (which was displayed in areas throughout the store).
- On three sides of the center-aisle refrigerated case, the store placed a large number of Wegmans brand and Wegmans Food You Feel Good About (organic) brand sauces and marinades – as well as Wegmans Italian Classics olive oil, balsamic vinegar, marinated artichoke quarters and more – on a shelf above the packaged meats, most of which were value-added meats and meat entrées under the Wegmans and Wegmans Food You Feel Good About (organic) brands.
- During our visit, the store was showcasing a number of packaged meat items and accompaniments, under both the Wegmans brand and other brands, in a refrigerated cart decked out for Mardi Gras.
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The downside:
- The store merchandises Wegmans lunchmeat tubs between Oscar Mayer Deli Fresh and Hillshire Farm lunchmeat tubs. Although the Wegmans items appeared to be fully stocked, many of the slots for Oscar Mayer and Hillshire Farm items were empty.
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A&P Fresh
General observations: The store appeared to be the smallest of the three stores we visited, although it is still a large supermarket. The packaged meat department is located in the center of the back wall; it has a long wing on each side that juts out at an angle into the store. A long four-sided combo freezer-case/refrigerated-case display is located in front of the area. Frozen packaged value-added meat and poultry products not in the display are located in a freezer case next to the refrigerated prepared entrées against the wall at the far left of the meat section. Lunchmeats, hot dogs, bacon and more are located in the far left aisle of the store (looking into the store front the front entrance).
The store retails a number of variable-weight non-value-added packaged meat and poultry items under A&Ps Americas Choice, Americas Choice Reserve and Greenway Organic brands. We also spotted a lesser number of value-added items under the Americas Choice and Americas Choice Reserve brands. The department was neat and well-stocked during our visit.
Our visit took on a Tuesday afternoon in early February. The store enjoyed a steady stream of traffic during our visit.
The upside:
- In front of the mid-aisle meat case display, the store placed a three-tier display that included A&Ps Americas Choice ketchup and mustard items on the top.
- Also in front of the case display, the store placed a four-tier display consisting entirely of the retailers Woodson & James Teriyaki sauce, Barbecue sauce and Mandarin Orange marinade.
- The store hung \"Compare and Save\" signage in front of the tubbed Americas Choice lunchmeats (touting a dollar savings over the comparable Hillshire Farm items) and the Americas Choice Reserve bacon (touting a $2.50 savings over Oscar Mayer Center Cut bacon).
The downside:
- Most of the free-standing displays situated by the packaged meat areas held only national brand items.
- In many subcategories here, A&P offers no store brand items.
Stop & Shop
General observations: The Stop & Shop store is large, although nowhere near the size of the Wegmans store, and has a bright and open feel. The packaged meat is located against the back wall on the left-hand side of the store (looking into the store from the front entrance), to the right of a seafood section. It extends past a (non-service) butcher shop and beyond. The lunchmeat and related products are located on the right wing. Frozen packaged meats and poultry are housed in the frozen foods section.
The Stop & Shop brand appears on numerous non-value-added and value-added meat and poultry items – even on refrigerated meat entrées (and complementary refrigerated side dishes). We also observed a number of poultry products under the retailers Natures Promise natural and organic brand. The packaged meats area was neat and well-stocked in most sections.
Our visit took place on a Tuesday afternoon in early February. We observed steady traffic in the store.
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The upside:
- Brightly colored triangular labels on some of the retailers Stop & Shop brand variable-weight beef products promised recipes and cooking instructions with a simple peel of the label.
- The store was cross-merchandising precut mixes of onions and sweet peppers with some of its meats as a meal suggestion.
- Large, brightly colored signage (hard to miss) called out specials such as a $3.99 deal on Natures Promise ground turkey or turkey burgers.
- On a high shelf in front of the back-room (but open) butcher work area and above a case holding Natures Promise poultry items, the store placed groupings of Natures Promise cooking sauces.
The downside:
- The lunchmeat section sported a sea of shelf tags touting deals on the majority of the products, making it difficult for shoppers to weed through all of the information.
Opportunity still knocks
Although many retailers have stepped up their merchandising and promotional efforts tied to store brand packaged meat and poultry items in recent years, additional opportunities await them. Within the packaged lunchmeat space, for example, retailers could improve packaging graphics and be more forward-thinking when it comes to sustainability-minded package formats, says Jeff Schwartz, private label and retail sales manager for West Liberty, Iowa-based West Liberty Foods. The plastic tubs and Oscar Mayer Deli Fresh-type trays revolutionized the segment when they were introduced about a decade ago, but now are growing a \"little stale\" in consumers eyes, he notes.
\"Consumer realize that theres a lot of extra plastic in them as they become more and more environmentally conscious,\" Schwartz says.
He does note that some retailers are getting ahead of the national brands in introducing more eco-minded packaging here, but others need to do the same if they are to truly differentiate themselves from the national brands and create destination-type offerings.
Across the value-added side of the packaged meat space, retailers need to look to consumers desire for packaging in line with portion control and resealability, says Ed Kelly Jr., national sales director for Godshalls Quality Meats, Telford, Pa. They also need to adjust their thinking in terms of pricing.
\"With the wide assortment of talented manufacturers available in most categories, retailers should be focused primarily on delivering a top-quality product as their private brand offering and should be concerned secondarily on the resulting price point,\" he says. \"I am seeing more retailers go to a multi-tiered approach to their private brands by offering a lower-quality value brand and also a higher-quality premium brand. Seems like a great way to have an offering for each consumer, and it would be wise for more retailers to adopt that strategy.\"
Cross-merchandising presents yet another opportunity, and the possibilities here are virtually endless.
Schwartz points to one retailer that offers a premium store brand sliced lunchmeat – the same brand sold in its service deli – and also puts the lunchmeat in its deli sandwiches. He sees a missed opportunity to tie the sandwich and the packaged lunchmeat together in consumers eyes by offering, for example, a coupon for 50 cents off the lunchmeat on the sandwich wrapper.
And Kelly notes that retailers could spur private brand sales by combining items into a \"meal theme\" promotion.
\"H-E-B in Texas does a wonderful job with this, as they seem to understand that consumers are looking for direction in finding new, creative, healthy and convenient food experiences,\" he says. \"By combining recipes, ideas and promotions on the private brand products needed to fulfill those recipes and ideas, retailers can gain consumer trial, long-term repeat sales and brand loyalty.\"